Not All Platforms Are Created Equal

As conceived and understood in the publishing industry, an author's platform serves a limited and very utilitarian purpose -- it is what provides an author with the ability to sell books on a given subject.  As explained by publishing industry expert Jane Friedman, the concept of an author's platform really only applies with respect to the non-fiction book market, where an author must have the ability to hold him or herself out as a knowledgeable expert, by one means or another, which enables their work to stand out in a crowded marketplace.    According to Friedman, a platform is what confers the ability to sell books either because of who an author is or who they can reach, by whatever means.  Thus the host of a popular television show, such as Oprah Winfrey or Jim Cramer, will have a built in author's platform thanks to their regular television appearances.  The same is true for a politician, sports star or celebrity - anyone, in fact, who readily enjoys public visibility by virtue of who they are or what they do.  To a lesser extent, a university professor or recognized expert on a particular subject likewise may be said to have a built in author's platform thanks to institutional support or media access or name recognition.

The idea of a platform in this sense is limited in several ways.  First of all, it's limited in scope inasmuch as it is intended only to serve the needs of a single author.  Each author needs a platform for him or herself. It is to be exploited for the purpose of promoting and selling that individual writer's books.  Second, it is limited in the sense that it serves primarily a promotional function.  The author's platform is what gives the author visibility and credibility so that his or her books can find a place in the market but it doesn't really serve any ancillary purposes.

Now truly, limited as these functions may be, the establishment of an author's platform nonetheless seems to have become critically important in today's publishing world, at least as far as most publishers are concerned, as I was so rudely informed by the submissions editor who reviewed my manuscript.  And yet, as we shall soon see from considering other contexts and industries, the concept of what a platform is, as well as the functions that it can serve, has much greater scope outside the publishing world.  It's particularly instructive to consider how the concept of a platform is used in the technology industry, where it has achieved far greater scope and sway than what the publishing industry designates or contemplates by the term.   In the technology industry, when we speak of a platform, it serves a far broader purpose, inasmuch as a tech platform proves to be a means for creating new work, not merely promoting that which already exists.  One can only imagine how much more important it would be for every author to have a good platform if the concept and functionality of an author's platform were to be expanded accordingly.